The Acorn’s High School Football Game of the Wee

ADAM DAVIS/Acorn Newspapers PLAYOFF PROSPECTS LOOKING GOOD—Simi Valley’s Lorne Bell can’t get by Agoura’s Kevin Clifford during last weekend’s 4930 Charger victory, a win that kept Agoura’s playoff hopes alive. There are two ways for the Agoura Chargers to qualify for the postseason—the easy way and the hard way.

The easiest way is for Agoura to beat Calabasas at home tonight in the regular-season finale for both schools. Basically, a win and they’re in the playoffs.

If the Chargers happen to stumble against the Coyotes, however, Agoura can still qualify for the postseason if Simi Valley beats Royal tonight at Simi Valley.

That would be the hard way, and is something Charger head coach Charlie Wegher is trying to avoid.

“When you play a team that is struggling, you still have to go out and practice and get better and go into the game and treat it like another playoff game,” Wegher said. “You have to approach it with that mentality.”

At 0-9 overall and 0-6 in the Marmonte, Calabasas has had little to cheer about this season. Nevertheless, CHS head coach Wayne Quigley said his team would continue to work hard in practice this week in preparation for the Chargers.

“They’re difficult to defend because they run out of that shotgun formation a lot,” Quigley said. “They don’t give you any indication of when they’re going to run or pass because they do both so well out of that formation. It’ll be difficult for us to defend, but we hope to slow them down a little bit.”

Since putting up 35 points against Simi Valley in Week 4, the Coyotes have struggled to maintain a balanced offensive attack. Some weeks they run the ball well, and other weeks the passing game is effective. But rarely are the two elements of offense clicking at the same time.

“It’s been a real inconsistent season for us offensively,” Quigley said.

According to Quigley, defensive tackle Andrew Steinberg (77 tackles) and defensive back Matt Laterza (98 tackles and four INTs) have been the Coyotes’ best defensive players this year.

On the offensive side of the ball, quarterback Kevin May (77-of-187 passing for 959 yards, six TDs and 17 INTs) and running back Peter Epstein (458 rushing yards and four TDs) have carried the bulk of the workload for Calabasas.

Leading the high-powered Agoura offensive attack is quarterback Dominick Huerta, currently ranked sixth in California with 2,479 yards passing, wide receiver J.T. Wright (58 reception, 1,000 receiving yards and 10 TDs) and running back Josh Irvin (308 rushing yards and four TDs).

Wegher credits the improved play of the Charger offensive line—namely guards Scott Beth and Robert McIntosh, tackles Eric Wells and Daniel Dadfar, and centers Jake Rivkin and Justin Keglevic for helping the Agoura offense average 39.5 points per game over the last two weeks.

“At this point, they’re really starting to gel,” Wegher said. “They’re getting better and that’s helping the team improve.”

Should Agoura pull out a victory over Calabasas, they’ll quickly turn their attention to Friday night’s game between Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks.

If the Chargers win this week and T.O. loses to Newbury Park, Agoura would enter the playoffs as the Marmonte’s No. 3 seed.

Should Thousand Oaks beats the Panthers, Agoura will enter the postseason as the league’s No. 4 seed and would likely draw a league champion in the first round.

Players to Watch

Calabasas Agoura

QB Kevin May RB Peter Epstein

QB Dominick Huerta

WR/PK J.T. Wright

WR/DB Matt Laterza DB Dustin Rhoades

DT Andrew Steinberg

Outlook The Chargers have scored 79 points in their last two

games, while the Coyotes have allowed 91 points over the same span. Those numbers don’t bode well for Calabasas, a team that has scored a touchdown or less in seven of nine games this season. Most

likely, Agoura is going to the playoffs.

LB Michael Leon